6 Tastes to Balance Your Plate This Holiday Season

You have your favorites…flavors, that is. The ones that make your mouth water, bring back memories of that first bite, or the people you chowed down with. The ability to taste is pretty mind-blowing, if you really think about it. We pick foods to nourish and restore our bodies and are rewarded with an incredible sensory experience that enlivens our tastebuds, minds, and bellies all while making us deeply happy from a sweet little dopamine hit.

In Western culture, when the flavors of foods are described, words like salty, savory, and sweet are common. This is a direct reflection of the prevalence of the ingredients that predominate the typical cuisines. Think of a cheese burger with fries and a soda! And while this approach makes sense, Ayurveda takes another perspective when considering our tastebuds and what we need to eat to be healthy and function optimally.

From this ancient framework, six distinct and necessary tastes are presented: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, astringent, and pungent. Each taste supports our bodies in different ways, as described below. They can bring one into, or out of, balance depending on how much is consumed and when. Of course, there are nuances like one’s unique doshic makeup, vikrutis (imbalances), and a number of other factors that play a role, too. However, the truly valuable point that Ayurveda illuminates around this is that if all six tastes are eaten in a meal, or at least within the course of a day, your body will feel satiated at a metabolic and emotional level! By doing so, you ensure the necessary hormones are released that help regulate your appetites (ie: prevent over/under eating), promote healthy blood sugar levels, regulate our metabolism (ie: give us sustainable energy), build our tissues, and detoxify wastes.

So, as you’re offered generous and lovingly prepared food this holiday season, keep in mind what you’re putting on your plate. This simple notion can help you maintain your sense of wellbeing the whole year through, so come the new year, you’re still your best you.

• Sweet:

  • Strengthens tissues and grounds energy, especially if weakness, debilitation, or dehydration are present.

  • Healthy Examples: whole grains, nuts, seeds, natural sugars, root vegetables, fruits, meats, fatty fish, eggs, milk and non-fermented dairy, ghee, oils, lentils, beans

• Sour:

  • Improves digestive weakness and increases circulation.

  • Healthy Examples: sour fruits, fermented foods including dairy like yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, some cheese (tangy/sharp), sour cream

• Salty:

  • Strengthens tissues, treats dehydration, increases appetite, and can decrease reactivity due to anxiousness.

  • Healthy Examples: sea salt, rock salt, Himalayan pink salt, Celtic salt, black salt

• Bitter:

  • Supports weight loss.

  • Healthy Examples: dark leafy greens, bitter herbs (dandelion, echinacea, goldenseal, neem, aloe-vera, turmeric, fenugreek, bitter melon, dark chocolate, coffee

• Astringent:

  • Builds lost muscle and skin tone, dries up secretions, reduces ama (cellular toxicity).

  • Healthy Examples: non-root vegetables, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, green beans, most raw vegetables, legumes, lentils, cranberries, apples, pomegranates, green bananas, jicama, black tea

• Pungent:

  • Increases digestion, especially for people who have weak digestion, have gained weight, or have a lot of ama (toxic buildup).

  • Healthy Examples: garlic, leeks, onions, mustard greens, radishes, turnips, horseradish, cinnamon, turmeric, fennel, cumin, coriander, chili peppers, black pepper, ginger, mustard, oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary

In wellness, Renee